EXCELLENCE. 
JAPONICA. 
% 
Japonica Alba. 
Language —EXCELLENCE. 
View them near 
At home, where all their worth and power is placed ; 
And there their hospitable fires burn clear, 
And there the lowest farm-house hearth is graced 
With manly hearts in piety sincere ; 
Faithful in love, in honor stern and chaste, 
In friendship warm and true, in danger brave, 
Beloved in life, and sainted in the grave. 
Halleck. 
What, my soul, was thy errand here ? 
Was it mirth, or ease, 
Or heaping up dust from year to year ? 
“ Nay, none of these ! ” 
Speak, soul, aright, in His holy sight 
Whose eye looks still 
And steadily on thee through the night: 
“ To do His will! ” 
Whittiee. 
A life of honor and of worth 
Has no eternity on earth ; 
’Tis but a name — 
And yet its glory far exceeds 
That base and sensual life which leads 
To want and shame. 
Longfellow. 
